Livestock Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke has defended livestock vaccination programme to be rolled out by the government in January saying it will increase Kenya’s meat quality abroad.
Mueke was speaking during the 10th edition of Kimalel Goat Auction in Baringo saying the prevalence of diseases such as foot and mouth and Peste des Petit Ruminants (PPR) was a hindrance to Kenya’s meat product in fetching good prices especially in the Middle East.
The PS revealed that it was while on a mission to get better price for the country’s meat products internationally that the government learnt of the importance of vaccination in determining the price of meat especially in the Middle East market.
“The Bottom-Up program seeks to get market for livestock product and it is in pursuit of getting this market that we toured Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that we found a big market for meat products but we couldn’t get good prices because we lack a vaccination certificate,” explained Mueke.
According to Mueke the markets are demanding certification for the two diseases saying our immunization level against the disease was at 10 per cent against a reasonable level of 85 percent.
Carrying a sample vaccine from Kevevapi, the PS allayed fears that the vaccine had a hidden agenda saying it is produced in Kenya by local scientists.
“People are asking where the vaccine is coming from, some say that the vaccine is produced by Bill Gates or is from America, today I have carried with me a sample, and it is made by Kevevapi, Kenya Veterinary Vaccine Production Institute, a government agency under the Ministry of Agriculture in Embakasi,” said the PS.
He assured that the goal is to improve the quality of livestock products and fetch a good price for the products.
On the other hand, Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi played down the controversy surrounding the national vaccination exercise saying that the county has been carrying out the vaccination for the said disease and that there is no resistance in the area.
“We have been striving to improve our livestock, recently we sold a bull for Sh 240,000 in Mogotio for the first time, this is a testament to our efforts to produce quality livestock,” said Cheboi who noted that they won’t be swayed away by the propaganda being peddled on the vaccine issue.
The national livestock vaccination exercise dominated the speeches with MPs led by the leader of the Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichungwa and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi castigating leaders who were opposing the exercise as not having the interest of Kenyans at heart.
At the same function senate majority leader Aaron Kipkirui advocated for digitizing of the Kimalel Auction and utilizing the expanded internet infrastructure by the government.
President William Ruto who presided over the sale of 5, 000 goats, raising Sh64 million gifted a youth, Enock Kimosop with Sh2 million as an encouragement for his innovative idea of selling Baringo goats online on efarmer.co.ke.
The head of state said that to continue with the good practice the government had injected Sh50 million in this financial year for the establishment of new livestock Training Institute in Mogotio.
The annual fete which is part of Baringo Cultural Festival and the Kimalel Goat Auction ended on Tuesday having been preceded by Kaldich boat race in Lake Baringo and cultural music festival on Monday.
It brought together the different communities living in Baringo including the Tugen, Pokot, Ilchamus, Agikuyu Turkana and even the Nubian Community.
By Christopher Kiprop